I apologize for the late post, but we were working well well into the night, and we were just too exhausted. Catching people up with photos, movies, and then story… The captions provide some context.

We are safe, just exhausted.  We have been working well into the night each day. Morning comes too soon.  We know, this pattern is not sustainable, but there are so many people we hope to record, we just can’t turn away the joyful music, Bible stories, and community health messages.  

We bumped over rocks and across bowls full of fine red dust. We are fortunate it is dry season. I can’t imagine these roads after a few days of rain.  When we arrived in the small small village, a few choir members were sitting in the shade patiently waiting.  Waiting is part of life here, and nobody taps their watch expectantly or flashes a scowl when activities start long after everyone expected.

As church leaders started organizing, a shady spot beside the school become the studio.  Benches were carefully arranged into a “U”, and I set up a small table at the entrance, with the microphone on the tripod.  Drums and shakers are normally quite loud, and they can easily overpower the voices of the singers, so I asked the percussion section to stand behind the benches.  As the regally dressed choir members started sitting down, small children and families from the town started gathering as well, to watch the spectacle. 

I asked the choir leader, a strong and distinguished man with a deeply weathered face and a powerful voice to start a song as practice, so I check the sound. I also indicated the leader, or “caller” would need to stand close to the microphone to balance his single voice against the whole choir. So he confidently strode up to the mic, folded his arms, and started belting out some magnificent praise songs, while the choir sat anemically on the benches, disorganized and clearly without zeal.  After a bit of translated discussion, it became clear — choirs don’t sing.  Nope.  Choirs dance, and then happen to sing along to their dancing.

Ladies arrived with large basins of water and wet down the dusty red dirt surrounding the lead singer. Moments later, the choir had left the confining benches and pressed in toward their choir director.  The percussion section pushed forward into the back of the scrum, and before we knew it, the dancing turned into joyful singing.

As each song grew more intense, more joyful, and more fun, the assembled audience pressed in closer. Anufo songs are simple. They are repeated phrases, 1 or 2 sentences long. So the audience found themselves either singing along or grooving to the music. 

Before we knew it, 8 to 10 songs had been recorded, and the choir was packing up to leave. Wonderful sweet music can’t last forever, but it was a joy while we had the chance to drop in and experience the culture of the Anufo.  So why were we up so late?  I’ll have to write that up in the morning, it’s 1:00am…